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Called 16
10:59:00 PM *** Ry will walk for awhile, then! And then flag down a taxi and head home. *** 11:03:59 PM Josie: He heads home! 11:04:31 PM Josie: All the furniture in the living room has been pushed to the sides and apparently, Tess and Mal are trying to teach Lizard some combat skills. 11:04:48 PM Ry: Oooooh. How's it going? 11:06:30 PM Josie: Giggly, at this point. Armand is still there, but he's mostly looking out the window at the ocean. 11:09:48 PM Josie: Lizard is trying to throw punches at Tess, and Tess is trying to correct her posture. 11:10:41 PM *** Ry goes and gets some bloooooood. *** 11:10:46 PM Josie: Mal is just watching, with folded arms, but he's smiling a bit too. 11:10:56 PM Josie: The fridge is still pretty full of it! 11:19:15 PM Ry: How is it going? 11:21:22 PM Josie: Liz: Dancing was easier. 11:21:32 PM Josie: Tess: Dancing is so not easier! 11:23:40 PM Ry: It's kind of the same thing. 11:24:39 PM Josie: Mal: ... remind me not to dance with you. 11:27:17 PM *** Ry waggles his eyebrows at Mal, sipping from his mug. *** 11:27:34 PM Josie: Mal looks perplexed. 11:27:38 PM Josie: The doorbell rings. 11:30:10 PM *** Ry goes to answer! *** 11:32:21 PM Josie: He can see through the window--it's someone he doesn't recognize. A redheaded man wearing a long coat over khakis and a plain white shirt, looks like. 11:32:41 PM *** Ry checks the aura. *** 11:33:30 PM Josie: Roll a D10! 11:33:41 PM Ry: ((2. Wah wah waaaaaah.)) 11:33:58 PM Josie: You do catch some red-orange in there! 11:34:20 PM Ry: What's red-orange again? 11:34:58 PM Josie: Curiosity! 11:35:45 PM *** Ry opens it. "Hello." *** 11:43:11 PM Josie: The guy smiles in a friendly sort of way--he's got pale skin and a fair number of freckles, and he's also wearing glasses. "Hey. I'm Carter Salazar, I'm looking for a friend of mine. Elisabeth Espinosa. Do you know her?" 11:44:28 PM *** Ry blinks. "I don't know anyone by that name." He steps outside and closes the door behind him. "Do you have a picture? I work with the police sometimes." *** 11:45:05 PM Josie: Salazar: Yeah, I do, actually. 11:45:58 PM Josie: He digs around in his coat pocket and comes up with a slightly faded high school portrait--the hair is a little bit hilarious and so is the fashion, but it's definitely Lizard. 11:46:41 PM *** Ry frowns. "She's missing? For how long?" *** 11:47:53 PM Josie: Salazar: A couple of years. She ran away from home originally. ... I'm a reporter, by the way. 11:49:26 PM Ry: Hrm. But you knew her personally? The police have given her up? 11:51:17 PM Josie: Salazar: Yeah. She was a couple years behind me in school. The police are... well, you know how it is. They just said she ran away of her own free will, which maybe she did. They don't care too much when a poor Latina girl goes missing, you know? 11:53:35 PM *** Ry takes out his phone and snaps a picture of the picture, if the guy will let him. He also hands him a business card. "Look... I kinda take a personal interest in stuff like this. Let me ask around. I have contacts -- like I said, I do some work for the police. This is my number and e-mail." *** 11:54:31 PM Josie: He does let him. 11:55:01 PM Ry: What else can you tell me about her? Any details help. 11:55:02 PM Josie: Salazar: This picture's pretty old. She'd be... uh, 20? I think 20 now. She was in my sister's class. 11:57:38 PM Ry: What school? 11:57:40 PM Josie: Salazar: She was always pretty quiet, but... sweet. She used to doodle a lot--nerd stuff, mostly. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings type stuff. Real nice kid. 11:57:45 PM *** Ry is taking notes. *** 11:58:38 PM Josie: Salazar: Riverland High School. Riverland, Ohio. 11:59:36 PM Josie: Salazar: I broke my arm playing baseball one year and she drew all over my cast. Superhero stuff--looked like it came right from the comic books. 12:01:05 AM Josie: Roll a D10! 12:01:45 AM Ry: ((7!)) 12:02:29 AM Josie: There's a shriek of laughter from inside the house. 12:03:03 AM Ry: So.... why're you looking now? For a story? 12:04:06 AM Josie: Salazar: No. I just got back to the states--I was doing some freelance work overseas. Never did sit right with me, her leaving like that, so I thought I'd at least try. 12:04:18 AM Josie: Salazar: ... hey, who else is in there? 12:04:40 AM Josie: He tries to peer through the window! 12:04:48 AM Ry: My friends. Hey. 12:04:54 AM Ry: Boundaries. 12:05:20 AM *** Ry leans to block him. *** 12:06:27 AM Josie: Salazar: ... yeah, all right. Sorry, you just... you hear things about girls being taken and thrown in a basement for 20 years, you know? Liz was a nice kid. 12:07:23 AM Ry: I know. Lots of bad things happen to a lot of people who don't have it coming. And it helps if you can help just one. I know. What brought you here, though? 12:09:16 AM Josie: Salazar: I traced her to this creep art dealer, and then to some corporate building. Kaplan-Maris Enterprises, I guess they call themselves. 12:10:25 AM Ry: Huh. And how does that get you here? We're only renting this place -- oh, right, right, I get you. 12:11:02 AM Josie: Salazar: Yeah. ... you sure you don't know anything? The description matched. 12:13:33 AM Ry: It might be this girl--- woman now, I suppose, but I don't know anything about her. We only just got here a few days back. 12:17:03 AM Josie: Salazar: You were seen with somebody who looked like that. 12:19:20 AM *** Ry throws his hands up, in a "I dunno" motion. "I was seen with a woman who might have matched a woman you knew years ago." *** 12:22:03 AM Josie: Salazar: Maybe she's going by a different name. 12:28:12 AM Ry: Look, I'll be glad to help you out. But Elizabeth Espinosa is not behind this door. I'm sorry. 12:28:27 AM Ry: .... why did you come so late, anyway? 12:28:46 AM Josie: Salazar: Saw the lights were on. And I still have jetlag. 12:29:04 AM Josie: Salazar: ... I'll see you later, Mr. Winslow. 12:29:10 AM Josie: He turns and walks away. 12:31:20 AM *** Ry waves. *** 4:33:07 PM Josie: Ry just got done talking to a reporter! 4:34:06 PM *** Ry waits till he's out of sight, then turns into a mountain lion to slink into the shadows and make sure he doesn't stick around to be a creeper. *** 4:35:31 PM Josie: He actually stops after a little bit, and goes for a little walk on the beach, sitting on the outcrop of rocks where Armand was stationed for a bit. 4:36:46 PM *** Ry watches him. *** 4:38:55 PM Josie: Eventually he sighs, lights a cigarette and mutters something unintelligible. It'd be pretty easy to kill him and make it look like an accident. The rocks can be pretty slippery, and it's dark. 4:41:35 PM *** Ry thinks about it, but he doesn't yet. He's still hoping he can just be pointed away -- part of Ry is still very much the cop who doesn't want to kill folks who don't have it coming. So Ry is hoping that either he can be pointed away, or he can find out that he has some more nefarious purpose. *** 4:42:34 PM Josie: He turns to look back at the house occasionally, but mostly seems to be watching the ocean. 4:46:42 PM Josie: When the first cigarette runs down, he uses it to light another one. Classic chainsmoking! You don't see that too much anymore. Mostly because it will kill you. 4:47:22 PM *** Ry heads back to the house, then. *** 4:48:49 PM Josie: Easily done. He can probably stay out of Salazar's sight as a big cat, probably. Probably... 4:49:20 PM *** Ry slinks back slowly. *** 4:50:44 PM Josie: Roll a D10! 4:50:52 PM Josie: In fact, roll 2. 4:51:48 PM Ry: ((6, 3.)) 4:52:30 PM Josie: Salazar doesn't appear to notice him at all, judging from the orange fire-speck Ry can see from the house. 5:00:52 PM *** Ry slinks back to the house before being a people again. *** 5:01:41 PM Josie: Easily done! He heads in the door. The group is much as he left it, though a bit more serious now. Liz is doing pretty well! 5:02:20 PM *** Ry beckons Armond closer. *** 5:02:44 PM Josie: He blinks and heads over to Ry, as asked. 5:04:28 PM *** Ry takes him out of earshot, hopefully. "There's a human on the beach. Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get too close to the house." *** 5:05:01 PM Josie: Armand nods. “Is he a threat?” 5:06:06 PM Ry: Kind of. He's investigating Liz. He's from her former life. He's pretty good, too, he tracked her here. I'm hoping to be able to just point him away from here, though. 5:07:41 PM Josie: Armand: All right. 5:08:14 PM Josie: He pauses for a moment and then heads out. 5:09:17 PM *** Ry then texts Rose. "Reporter showed up. I bullshitted him but not sure how well. I'd prefer to not kill him, but point him away." *** 5:10:53 PM Josie: Rose: It’s too late for that if he’s already there. 5:13:28 PM Ry: "Not necessarily. Killing him will just raise more questions. Give me some time to dig up some info on him. If I can convince him that she got sent away from here. Or if she just died." 5:15:19 PM Josie: Rose: Will there be time? And there are other options besides killing him. We could TRY Dominate. Or maybe Liz could Presence him. Or I have a very nice jail cell—he hasn’t got any close family or friends in this country that we’ve traced. Or we could bring him in somehow. 5:16:40 PM Ry: "Dominate doesn't last long enough on that scale. Liz doesn't have enough control yet. How much of his story is legitimate? 5:17:59 PM Josie: Rose: What story, we haven’t been able to get much out of him. He’s originally from Ohio—he graduated school early and went to do freelance reporting in war zones. We have everything publicly available but that’s it. 5:18:39 PM Ry: "Is he here on a job?" 5:19:10 PM Josie: Rose: Not that we’ve been able to find out. His blog says he’s on vacation. 5:23:45 PM Ry: "Found out Lizard's name at least." 5:23:56 PM Josie: Rose: Please tell me it’s not Lizard. 5:25:25 PM Ry: "Elisabeth Espinosa. I'm going to talk to her here in a minute. Another reason I dont' want to just kill him. He might know more about her. " 5:26:46 PM Josie: Rose: That is a wonderful improvement. Now she just needs to choose a pseudonym so we can make her a good background for fake ID. 5:28:01 PM Ry: "Right now Armond is watching him. I'm worried that he's going to try breaking in during the day." 5:28:43 PM Josie: Rose: A reporter? He seems reputable, why would he break in for a story? 5:29:03 PM Ry: "There's something personal about this." 5:31:34 PM Josie: Rose: How personal? 5:33:33 PM Ry: "Not sure yet." 5:34:24 PM Josie: Rose: I’ll hold off on killing him, then. For now. But you have my endorsement if you need to. 5:36:56 PM Ry: "If I have to, I will." 5:37:31 PM Josie: Rose: Good luck. I’ll send you his blog address. 5:38:32 PM Ry: "Thanks." 5:38:56 PM Josie: There’s a little pause and then an address comes through. 5:39:41 PM *** Ry will check it out and go back to watch the others for a few minutes. He also googles Lizard's real name. *** 5:41:12 PM Josie: Very little comes up. She was on the B honor roll a couple times, and the A honor roll once. There’s a grainy picture of her and a bunch of other kids at an arts in the park event. But that’s about it. 5:42:07 PM Josie: They’ve swapped places a bit—now Mal is giving her a basic lesson in swords. It’s very basic, but she actually seems a bit better at this than at hand-to-hand. 5:44:24 PM Josie: Mal: Hey, not bad. 5:44:32 PM Josie: Liz: For a girl, you mean? 5:44:52 PM Josie: Mal, clearly puzzled: ... what? 5:47:07 PM Josie: Liz: Well, you sounded surprised! 5:47:48 PM Josie: Mal: ... yeah, because you said you haven’t used a sword before, but you’re holding it like you have. Why would being a girl matter? 5:48:34 PM Josie: Liz: ... well, it shouldn’t. 5:50:02 PM Josie: Mal, still obviously confused: And it doesn’t? 5:50:11 PM Josie: Tess: It’s a whole thing we have here. Try not to worry about it. 5:50:17 PM Ry: A lot of folks here think it does matter. 5:50:45 PM Josie: Mal: You’re all really weird. 5:52:20 PM Ry: Hey, Liz, I gotta talk to you. 5:52:36 PM Ry: Tess, you too. 5:52:40 PM Josie: Liz: Oh, all right. 5:53:08 PM Josie: Mal: ... right, I’ll just go downstairs and... polish the floor or something. 5:54:11 PM Josie: Mal heads downstairs, shaking his head. 5:55:12 PM *** Ry rolls his eyes, and pulls out the picture of Young!Liz on his phone. *** 5:56:04 PM Josie: Liz: ... that’s me, isn’t it? 5:56:17 PM Ry: Elisabeth Espinosa. 5:56:21 PM Josie: Tess: ... wow, nice braces. No wonder your teeth are so straight. 5:57:12 PM Josie: Liz: That’s me. Elisabeth Espinosa... it does sound familiar. I do remember a few things from before now. 6:01:20 PM Ry: Like what? 6:03:27 PM Josie: Liz: ... mostly a man hitting me. It's kind of fuzzy now. 6:03:46 PM Ry: You were apparently a runaway. 6:04:13 PM Josie: Liz: I must have run away from him. Stepfather. It was my stepfather. 6:05:11 PM Ry: Yeah. 6:05:29 PM Josie: Liz: And I went to school. 6:05:41 PM Ry: In Ohio. 6:05:56 PM Josie: Liz: Oh. 6:06:09 PM Ry: OH. That's right. 6:06:39 PM Josie: Liz smiles. "I just meant I was hoping it would be someplace cooler like California." 6:08:41 PM Ry: Nope, you're an uncool dork like the rest of us. 6:08:46 PM *** Ry smiles at her. *** 6:09:15 PM Josie: Liz: That's okay, I like the rest of us. 6:09:44 PM Josie: Tess: I was cool, for a brief moment in 1976. It's okay though, I got better. 6:54:05 PM Josie: Liz grins. 6:54:32 PM Ry: .... when? Did you wear a miniskirt? 6:55:02 PM | Edited 6:58:40 PM Josie: Tess: Every woman did! And it was awful. 6:59:10 PM Ry: I liked 'em. 6:59:24 PM Josie: Tess: Yeah, you didn't have to try to sit down in one! 6:59:56 PM Ry: That's true. 7:00:21 PM Ry: Anyway, Liz. Seems a guy from your previous life has been tracking you. 7:00:45 PM Josie: Liz: A guy? Who? 7:01:03 PM | Edited 7:03:12 PM Ry: Carter Salazar. 7:02:07 PM Josie: ((Carter.)) 7:02:26 PM Josie: Liz: ... it sounds familiar. 7:03:01 PM Josie: ((Phone call!)) 7:03:32 PM Ry: You apparently drew on his arm cast one year. 7:15:36 PM Josie: She blushes! It looks a bit odd now that she's vampire-pale. 7:15:48 PM *** Ry raises an eyebrow! *** 7:16:06 PM Josie: Liz: Oh! I do remember that. But it wasn't Carter Salazar. It was Esteban. 7:19:45 PM Ry: Well, ,he's tracked you down. 7:20:21 PM Josie: Liz: ... why, though? I mean... he was a lot older than me. 7:21:46 PM Ry: Good question. Apparently you left an impression on him. 7:22:00 PM Ry: I mean, you're a great person, so that's why clearly. 7:23:26 PM Josie: Liz blushes even more. "... I don't know. I was just friends with his sister..." 7:23:51 PM Josie: Tess doesn't say anything but she's definitely curious, and you don't have to check an aura for that. 7:25:55 PM Ry: But you know enough about us now to know it's kind of an issue. 7:27:13 PM Josie: Liz: ... what are you going to do? 7:28:52 PM Ry: I really don't know. 7:29:12 PM Josie: Tess: What do you know about him? 7:29:24 PM Ry: He's a reporter. 7:30:40 PM Josie: Liz: ... he was in sports. Basketball and baseball. He got pretty good grades too. Sofia--that's his sister-- said he made it harder for her. 7:37:18 PM Ry: Also, apparently you're around 20. 7:37:51 PM Josie: Liz: Well, we did know that. 7:37:57 PM Josie: She's still pretty pink in the face. 7:40:35 PM Ry: .... well. I'm... not sure what to do What do you think? 7:42:02 PM Josie: Liz: We don't have to kill him, do we? 7:47:17 PM Ry: I'm hoping not. But maintaining the masquerade is kind of a big dea. 7:52:27 PM Josie: Liz: I know! But there has to be something else. 7:53:07 PM | Edited 7:53:30 PM Ry: I'm hoping we can just find a way to point him away from here, but he's pretty good. He managed to track you to the front door. 7:53:37 PM Josie: Liz: ... maybe I could just talk to him? 7:57:38 PM Ry: I don't know that that would help. 8:00:28 PM Josie: Liz: Why not? 8:08:05 PM Ry: What are you going to tell him? 8:08:30 PM Josie: Liz: Um. 8:08:52 PM Josie: Tess: Hoo, yeah, we'd have to come up with a pretty good story. ... preferably one that doesn't make Ry look like a creep. 8:11:45 PM Josie: Liz: Why would he look like a creep? 8:13:11 PM Josie: Tess: He looks like he's about 35, and you're a 20-year-old girl without a degree living in his house. 8:15:12 PM Ry: Yeah, that. 8:15:45 PM Josie: Liz: ... maybe you could be my teacher? I mean, that is kind of true. Or a relative? 8:19:17 PM Ry: Maybe. 8:19:45 PM Ry: What if he wants to remain in contact? What would you tell him? 8:20:13 PM Josie: Liz: ... aren't we allowed to talk to regular people anymore? 8:21:06 PM Ry: We are. We just can't give away anything about what we are. And eventually people cotton on to the fact that we don't age. 8:26:13 PM Josie: Liz: But I haven't been one for very long. So I could probably stay in contact for a little bit. 8:29:05 PM *** Ry thinks, glancing at Tess. *** 8:30:04 PM Josie: Tess: ... you have a little crush on him, huh? 8:31:06 PM Josie: Liz: No! I mean, I used to, but I haven't seen him for years and years, he's probably completely different. If it even IS him, didn't you say it was Carter? I don't know any Carters. 8:39:36 PM Ry: He said you were friends with his sister. So it's probably the same guy. 8:40:33 PM Josie: Liz: ... oh. 8:49:25 PM *** Ry thinks. *** 8:51:36 PM Josie: Liz: I'd like to see him, if it matters. 8:52:40 PM Ry: It does. I think if we can convince him you're well, and have it all square with whatever it is he's already turned up... make it as uninteresting as possible... then maybe we can manage it. 8:54:00 PM Josie: Tess: ... yeah, but what are we going to tell him? Long lost relative? ... will he believe that? 8:54:46 PM Ry: I think we can pull it off. 8:55:45 PM Josie: Liz: Long-lost relative. Maybe an uncle? 8:59:11 PM Ry: Yeah. Tess and I are married, you've been staying with us. He tracked you to Fogg. 9:00:20 PM Josie: Tess: Least romantic proposal ever. Sounds good. Did we rescue her from the wicked artist-abuser? 9:09:44 PM Ry: I already told him I'm an investigator. 9:09:53 PM Ry: So that could work out. 9:10:39 PM Josie: Tess: And I heroically waded in and punched the bad guys! ... that actually did happen, it's just that they were mostly Figg's little friends who were trying to run away from the Hunters. 9:14:41 PM Ry: All right. And we'll say you're wanting to avoid your old family, that's why you're with us. 9:16:16 PM Josie: Liz: ... well, and I do, anyway. 9:17:13 PM Ry: Right. We'll just have to make sure he doesn't.... write a story about all of this. 9:17:41 PM Josie: Tess: That's easy, just say "off the record" before you tell him anything. 9:18:19 PM Ry: Yeah. It's... been awhile since I've dealt with press. 9:19:17 PM Josie: Tess: As I understand it they almost never shoot each other in duels anymore. 9:19:58 PM Ry: THat's good. There was a period in the 80s where it got really bad. 9:20:45 PM Josie: Tess: I had a reporter friend for a couple years about 20 years ago. I should see if she ever made editor. 9:21:24 PM Josie: Tess: Amazing woman. I've never seen anyone drink that much and stay conscious. 9:22:50 PM Ry: Hmmmm. All right. This could work. 9:23:43 PM Josie: Liz: Does alcohol even work on us anymore? 9:24:01 PM Josie: Tess: Yeah, if you can drink it. Most people get better results by drinking blood from a drunk person. 9:28:29 PM Josie: Liz: ... how did you find me? 9:33:24 PM *** Ry looks at Tess. *** 9:35:10 PM Josie: Tess: Well, we didn't. I mean, in reality we were just going to have a little talk with Figg about his business practices and it all went sidewise. I don't know what we should tell the reporter about that. 9:43:43 PM Josie: Liz looks to Ry! 9:44:43 PM Ry: We'll need to get it ironed out. He'll ask a lot of specific questions. 9:45:19 PM Josie: Liz: Well, maybe it was just a coincidence? ... that seems like too much of a coincidence. 9:45:55 PM Josie: Tess: You heard about a girl who matched Liz's description and we went and saved her. 9:47:22 PM Ry: Who are you, who do you work for? 9:48:37 PM Josie: Tess: Oh that's easy, I'm Tess Miller Winslow and I work security for Kaplan-Maris Enterprises. 9:50:35 PM Ry: Think we can have credentials in place by the time he goes to verify them? 9:51:58 PM Josie: Tess: Mine already are. That is where I work. 9:52:31 PM Josie: Tess: Kaplan-Maris is one of our fronts. 9:56:04 PM Ry: Yeah. Well, All right, then. 9:56:38 PM Josie: Tess: The only thing we're missing is a marriage license, and we could be common-law married, so. 9:58:38 PM Ry: What are you going to tell him when he asks what happened to you, Liz? 9:59:26 PM Josie: Liz: I got kidnapped and drugged and don't remember very much of it. 10:09:10 PM Josie: Tess: That sounds good to me. 10:10:01 PM Ry: Well. No time like the present, right? I know he's probably nearby. We'll have to keep Mal and Faye away so we can do this. 10:10:32 PM Josie: Liz nods. 10:11:09 PM Josie: Tess: I'll tell Mal. Unless he's already asleep. We should probably stock up the non-blood in the fridge tomorrow--we're running out of stuff for him and Faye. 10:12:11 PM Josie: Tess heads downstairs. 10:12:31 PM Josie: Liz: Does my hair look okay? Do I look okay? ... I should change. 10:14:25 PM Ry: You look great. He already heard you roughhousing. 10:16:02 PM Josie: Liz: He did?? 10:16:06 PM Josie: Liz: ... I'll be right back. 10:16:13 PM Josie: She zips down the stairs to fix how she looks! 10:16:23 PM Josie: Faye hops up from the couch and wuffs at Ry. 10:16:59 PM *** Ry pets Faye. *** 10:17:14 PM Ry: Okay, gonna need you to make yourself invisible for a bit, okay? 10:17:42 PM Josie: Faye: Yeah, yeah. You just come and get me if I need to tear his throat out. 10:17:54 PM Josie: She grins a foxy little grin and trots off to the master bedroom.